Farewell to a Beautiful Soul-We’ll Miss You Wayne

I don’t know what to say about the passing of Wayne Dyer… His books have surrounded me for most of my life. Before he burst forth with his teachings on positive living, I remember his book “Your Erroneous Zones” being on my parent’s bookshelf. In fact, even now three of his books sit next to the living room chair: Excuses be Gone (one of my favorites), The Power of Intention, and Change your Thoughts-Change your Life.

Wayne taught me the importance of staying positive. He showed me the difference between a truth and a meme (something we accept as true). He encouraged me to trust the healing power of the spirit– that the spirit can indeed heal the physical. His teachings significantly shaped the person I’ve become.

I, like many, feel as if I’ve just lost my favorite uncle—good friend, mentor, guru… It hurts. And it’s okay to admit that it hurts. But Wayne wouldn’t want us to stay there! I’m quite certain that this amazing soul is having a jolly good time on “the other side.”

Wayne taught us everything he could. He led by example, and with love. He left behind a legacy of compassion, generosity, and grace. And he left us with a lifetime’s worth of books and videos to uplift us and keep us company until we see him again.

My heart goes out to his family and friends who are undoubtedly in a whirlwind of emotion at this time. I hope they find some comfort in the love we hold for them, and for Wayne.

Mary Morrisey posted this YouTube tribute to Wayne Dyer—thank you Mary.

 

Year end reflections from Don Russell: How a thought caught fire

Sharing thoughts; it sounds like an innocent concept, so innocent that most of us never bother speaking up. After all, who wants to hear what we think? But somewhere there may be someone just waiting for a little nudge–waiting for someone else to voice what they have been holding back. And when the writer and the reader connect, magic happens!
I’m sharing just such a story today from Don Russell, author of Lifting the Curtain: the Disgrace We Call Urban High School Education. Maybe his story will encourage you to share your own thoughts!

Lifting the Curtain

 Yearend is a time for reflection.  And while I took off two weeks off from this blog to concentrate fulltime on all the new chapters and teacher submissions for the 2^nd edition of Lifting the Curtain, I kept getting struck by the passion of the thousands of teachers I have “e-met” (is that even a word?) over the past few months.  Deep thanks are in order.

Just three months ago I launched this blog with a singular focus – let teacher voices finally be heard so that we could fix the real issues destroying the education of our children.  I was tired and frustrated that the invaluable views of teachers, from within the classroom, were being hidden—intimidated into silence by bullying and cronyistic school administrators, and drowned out by the loud voices of the same inept career DoE bureaucrats and legislators who were responsible for the…

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The Fallen Sentinel or If A Tree Falls On Your House Can You Hear It?

Our majestic mesquite is no longer. Just a sapling when we bought the house, we’d babied him through many storms—picked him up once, tethered him…and in return this tree grew to be a giant standing 40-50ft tall with a trunk over a foot in diameter. He shaded the entire front of our property, cradled many nests, and provided the stage for my favorite mocking bird’s mating song (which lasted all night long). But a couple of weeks ago, the last monsoon of the season burst forth with 65 mph winds, uprooting our beloved tree. We watched as he succumbed to the force, gently lying back onto the roof. There was no “bang,” simply the crackling of splintering wood barely heard above the sound of the rain.

It was several days before we could get a company out to remove the tree, during that time it was a bit like living in a tree house. Branches covered most of the front windows and completely blocked our front walkway. Luckily, we were able to clear enough away to get our cars out of the garage! A crew of four tackled the take-down; it took them just two hours, I thought you might be interested in seeing the process.

They began by removing the branches. A worker climbed the tree up to the roof; I noticed he kept his footing mostly on the larger branches and not on the roofing tiles. Once the branches were off he started with the trunk, tossing down large pieces (you don’t want to be standing anywhere near those falling logs!

 

With the trunk finally clear of the house, the next question was how to finish the job. The workers decided to pull the tree away from the house so that the falling debris would not crack the concrete walkway. They tied the top of the trunk to the tow hitch on a pick up truck and drove until the tree leaned the opposite direction.

The worker climbed back up the trunk and continued cutting foot long segments. Once he got to the largest part he cut segments about two feet long—horribly heavy but they will make nice side tables out on the patio.

Guess I have a new landscaping project…

 

The Postal Carrier and the Mathematician

Our society is fixated on heroes, mostly fictional. These characters provide us with role models of bravery, fortitude, and selfless service. Once in awhile a real hero catches our attention; I’d like to share with you the stories of two. In respect to their privacy I will simply call them the Postal Carrier and the Mathematician—both friends of mine.

The postal carrier was just that, a postal worker. For many years he lived alone in a small house, but his extended family, and his passion, was the theatre. Most evenings and weekends we could hear the hum of his power saw as he built sets for the next play. His artistic talent didn’t end with the sets though; he also acted, directed, and wrote several plays. Eventual he married…and then he became sick.

The postal carrier was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) which affects the motor neurons. Soon, he could no longer work nor could he continue to build sets. He is now in a wheelchair with no use of his arms or legs, and his wife has told me it is just a matter of time. Many of us would just give into depression, but not this guy—he wrote another play!

His newest play focuses greed and what lengths people will go to for money. Will they lie? Will they risk their lives, or kill their friends? I find it fascinating that as this man faces his own passing his thoughts are on the morals of society. What may be his last message to us is to face the greed in our own hearts.

My mathematician friend has also placed his attention on the world around him instead of himself. With stage four cancer there is a small chance he can be cured—he has always been healthy so that is in his favor. So, armed with a chemo drip system and a computer he is working to improve children’s education.

The mathematician is a teacher, and his passion is children. You see, his childhood was less than ideal, in fact, it was a nightmare. Consequently, any policies or people that stand in the way of a child and his/her potential really get his goat. His goal is to reveal the bureaucratic nonsense hindering our children’s education and improve the system so each child has the opportunity to excel. For this man it’s just business as usual—he’s even kept his spunky sense of humor!

A hero isn’t someone who can do super-human feats; it’s a person who can remain “human” in times of intense struggle. Heroes challenge us to live each day the best we can right up until the end. To not give up when our days or lives don’t go as planned, but to meet that disappointment and ask ourselves, “What can I still contribute, what beauty can I still experience, what passion continues to stir inside me?” I guess that’s they mean meant by, “Live each day as if it was your last.”

How will you live you life today? Do you have something wonderful to share with the world that you’ve been holding back? Is there a hero in your life you would like to acknowledge? Just sharing a few of my own ponderings…please share yours. ♥

 

Little Dove Lost

I’m sure we all have stories about curious children who wander away and sometimes get a bit lost; it happens to creatures of all kinds. Today it was this baby dove’s turn to learn a scary lesson.

I noticed him just outside my office window. At the time, he was chasing after a lizard even larger than himself. (I missed a great photo op as baby dove pecked the lizard on the chin.)

Like most of us who mean well, I dragged the ladder outside to search for the nest—thinking I might put him back. All I found was a sad remnant of a nest in the rain gutter; there was an un-hatched egg still there. Although concerned for the baby, I decided the best thing to do was wait and watch.

As the morning went on I noticed the mom was taking good care of Baby Dove. She fed him at regular intervals and let him hide underneath her feathers. About two hours later I happen to catch site of Baby standing up and looking towards the roof. He spread his wings, bent his little legs, and flew up to that old remnant in the rain gutter!

We all have lessons to from life: the right way to build a home, when not to wander away from the nest, the importance of helping others, and when it’s best to root from the sidelines and let them learn to stretch their wings.

 

Review of Geography of Loss by Patti Digh

My first experience with the heartfelt writing style of Patti Digh was when I came across her book Life is a Verb, a book challenging the audience to live intentionally. The message sank in, and I made some changes in my life. I also took notice of the beautiful artwork submitted by readers; the book felt like “community” to me. Since then Patti has written several books, the most recent being The Geography of Loss. This time our challenge is to face the many painful experiences of life, explore the markings they’ve left on us, and fully embrace our life. Like most self-help books, this one offers exercises to help move the reader through various emotional states. This book is different though, artwork and topography lead us through this emotional territory.

Each chapter begins with a story or personal essay, followed by three prompts: a journal prompt, a map or image exercise, and a meditation. I appreciate the user-friendliness of this format; being written is such a way that you can choose which order to read the chapters and which exercises feel right for you. The journal prompts and map exercises fit together to bring you deeper into the emotional memory. Personally, I think this is brilliant. Therapists often use art exercises in their work with abused children and other trauma patients. They say that imagery is our first language–the “language of the soul”. Working with imagery bypasses our logical mind, helping to access the deeper areas.

Many of us carry fears or resentments centered on loss—an injury, betrayal, divorce, or loss of a loved one. In some situations we’ve judged ourselves; in others we have trouble forgiving. Often we carry this pain like a wall, hoping it will protect us from further injury—the wall is the injury. It is only by courageously, and fully, exploring our grief that we can be free to embrace and love our life.

If you’ve been carrying Loss or Grief, I encourage you to pick of a copy of The Geography of Loss—available at Amazon or your local bookstore. On a personal note, my artwork is on page 18!

HeartTracks by RLC. Image published in The Geography of Loss by Patti Digh

Connect with Patti Digh at http://www.37days.com/home

 

It’s just one of those days…or is it?

I’m sure that at least once you’ve caught yourself saying, “It’s going to be one of those days.” You know…the kind of day when the water gets turned off, people cut you off, and none of the grocery stores have the ingredient you need. The kind of day when your order finally arrives in the mail and is wrong, which means you have to pay to ship it back. The kind of day when you spill a can of peas and they all go rolling across the floor, disappearing under the refrigerator. Yes, this was actually my day today. But, instead of bracing myself for the next possible catastrophe, I decided to try something different. I decided to see each experience as separate and unattached to the rest of the day. And you know what? It wasn’t really a bad day at all!

On the positive side, fellow grocery shoppers were in relatively good moods. A friend shared her entire diet plan via email and offered encouragement through the holiday feasting. The post office employee taped up my package for me so I could mail the item back in the same envelope (and save three dollars). And the water was turned back on a full four hours before I expected. Best of all, I didn’t spend the day being a grump!

Stuff happens; that’s life. The problem begins when we get attached to all the let-downs. All we can expect of ourselves is to deal the best we can with whatever comes up…then let it go. We don’t have to wait for tomorrow’s sun to rise before we can feel better, or before our luck shifts. We can decide that each day is merely a series of moments offering many fresh starts.

…just something to keep in mind this Thursday when you spill the gravy down your new, white blouse.

 

Please excuse the lack of editing—it’s just been… well, you know 🙂

For instructions on making Gobble-Gobble Gourdy go to Museiddity.com.

 

Children, Nightmares, and Promoting Sweet Dreams

Evening Romp by RLC 2009

We all know that occasional nightmares are part of childhood but what can we do when the nightmares happen every night?

A frustrated mother recently posted her plea on a parenting website. Her son has recurring nightmares of malevolent extraterrestrials; the dreams happen every night. The family has stopped watching alien movies and she has explained to her son that those stories aren’t real, but the dreams persist. I don’t remember where I came across this posting, but as someone who has suffered from nightmares well into adulthood I’d like to take a moment to address the subject.

To work with childhood nightmares we need to look at three things: the way a child’s brain works, what nightmares are, and how to promote a good night’s rest (which is something even adults can embrace).

Did you know that your child is operating in a different wave pattern than you are? It’s true! Children under 12 spend most of their waking time in Theta state, whereas adults primarily stay in Beta. Why are children in Theta? This is their learning time. Children are soaking up information in order to learn how to survive. Their minds don’t know the difference between story and fact; it’s all real and everything is possible. This is important to note because it tells us two things. One, those violent movies are being registered in the subconscious as necessary information. Two, even though the child can logically agree that the stories are not real, their subconscious is working with the information as though the events truly happened.

I remember watching the movie Psycho when I was still pretty young; that infamous shower scene really got to me! It was quite a while, a few years in fact, before I could take a shower without thinking about someone whipping open the shower curtain. Sometime I even left the curtain partway open so I could keep an eye on the room. What happened was that my mind created a neural pathway associating being in the shower with danger. It takes time to re-route or override those pathways. They are created so that we “don’t keep stepping in the same hole” so to speak.

So, what does all of this have to do with nightmares? At night, a child’s mind is trying to sort and balance all the information recorded and absorbed that day. All of those stimuli have triggered specific emotional centers as well, and as the mind does its sorting these emotional centers are stimulated and strange dreams can result. A movie or story may have originally traumatized this child, creating a fear response “trigger.” Other stressful input such as news reports, crime dramas, or even family arguments can stimulate this same trigger. Even though the movies have stopped, the fear response is still active.

The way to begin reducing the nightmares is to not only avoid violent or stressful situations but also incorporate safe, relaxing experiences. Adults can benefit from this as well.

Allow for some wind-down time before going to bed, at least an hour but preferably two. Use this time to:

• Watch nature shows
• Take a warm bath
• Listen to relaxing music—nature sounds, lullabies, Native American flute, piano solos
• Read heart warming or funny stories
• Cuddle

Have your discussions about the day, such as what happened at school, earlier in the evening, not during wind-down time. This time is for letting go of the day and nurturing a light mood and good feelings. Children sleep better when they feel safe, loved, and have happy pictures in their heads. Parents may find themselves sleeping better too!

 

Additional steps for working through recurring nightmares:

Offer your child the gift of self empowerment. Give them tools to help them through the fear and teach them to assert themselves in scary situations:

Give the child a special flashlight to take to bed or one of those “Dream Lites” animals that casts stars on the ceiling.

Create a special “Happy Dreams” song to sing together each night or an “It’s Only a Bad Dream” song for the child to sing to himself after waking from a nightmare.

During the daytime, sit quietly and let your child describe the dreams in detail. Ask questions about how the child feels during different parts of the dream and how the dream might play out differently for a better outcome. Encourage the child to re-write the script of the dream and roll-play this new scenario with him, featuring the child as the new hero of the story.

Have the child write a story or draw pictures of rising up against the monster or making the monster actually turn out to be a mouse in a costume (or some other funny thing).

One of the greatest lessons a child can learn is the difference between acting in a dangerous situation and reacting to fear.

Do you or your child suffer from nightmares? Do you have any stories to tell or tips to share?

 

Lesson Learned—You Are What You Eat

Have you ever just let yourself go? I’m talking about “going to pot” or getting lazy. If so, you probably know the ramifications can be painful…something I was reminded of just last month.

My journey “south” happened slowly…over years. Once a yoga-working vegan, as my life changed (new friends, new home, different jobs) healthy habits gave way until I no longer remembered my former self. And my diet? Ugh—I was living off of peanut butter, too much bread, too much pasta, and only an occasional healthy meal. To top it off, I wasn’t taking any vitamins. This is when “The Bug from Hades” came to call!

Some kind of virus, a flu bug I believe, swept through early in September. Everyone I know who caught the darn thing were sick for two weeks—except for me, I was sick for  28 days and am just now beginning to feel somewhat normal. I believe the bug hit me harder because I had no nutritional reserves. Lesson learned; keep that rainbow on your plate!

Do you remember the “rainbow on your plate” slogan for healthy eating? There really is no substitute for a varied diet rich in fruits and veggies. You can go to the Chiropractor regularly, exercise, take herbs to strengthen your system….nothing strengthens your body like a healthy diet.

So, what is a healthy diet? There’s a bit of a debate about that and it can get confusing. My answer is:

• It begins with a variety of veggies prepared in different ways. Different cooking methods release different nutrients so read up on your favorites and try preparing them in a new way.

• Don’t always eat the same thing, there’s more to life than salad. Choose something new each week (or each month) and look up ways to prepare it.

• Fruits have a lot to offer and are not just for dessert. Try cherry compote over grilled chicken!

• Speaking of meat, keep it to a minimum.

• You need some fats in your diet to absorb certain nutrients. Olive Oil works in most situations but pay attention to which oils you use for different cooking methods. For instance, EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) does not work well with high heat. Some of the nut oils are a tasty alternative though!

• And, unless you are growing your own food, keep taking those nutritional supplements. It’s a sad fact that most commercially available produce lacks the nutritional potency of years gone by.

Speaking of nutritional properties, here are some links you might enjoy.

Power Your Diet shares nutritional information on veggies, herbs, oils, and more. Did you know that bay leaf has antiseptic properties or that rosemary is rich in B-Complex?  http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/vegetable-nutrition.html

Need a quick reference chart for your most common produce items? The FDA offers free PDFshttp://www.fda.gov/food/ingredientspackaginglabeling/labelingnutrition/ucm063367.htm

This is the FDA homepage where they list recalls and other public announcements. http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm

 

Healthy Eyes: Tips for Reducing Eye Strain

Does the summer heat tempt you to leave your desk light off? If so, you might risk straining your eyes. I just came across one of my posts published by Women On Writing back in 2011 and thought the information worth sharing again. Hope you find it helpful!

The things we do to ourselves… Last week I decided it was too hot to have the lights on in my office. I worked in a dim room all week and ended up with an annoying twitch in my right eye. So, I decided to do some research on eye strain and how to prevent it. Are you ready for the condensed version?

Office Ergonomics:

Your computer screen should be at arms length, with the middle of the screen setting approximately fifteen degrees below your sight line. Place the monitor at a right angle to any window or bright light source to reduce glare.

The lighting in the room should be no more than three times brighter than the screen. The best lighting is indirect; the aim is to avoid glare and shadow. Use task lighting for any paperwork.

Paperwork should be placed at the same level and angle as the monitor, or directly in front of the monitor, to reduce the strain of repeatedly changing focus.

Rest and Exercise:

Take a break at least every thirty minutes to relax your eye muscles, either rest with your eyes closed for a few seconds or choose one of these exercises.

The Stretch

You know this one. Look up, look down, look left, look right– you should be able to feel the stretch. Making “figure eights” will work just as well, or look around the room and trace the outline of objects with your eyes.

Zen Vision

I’m sure you’ve seen pictures where there are two possible images. For instance, one might see either a beautiful woman with a bared shoulder or an old hag with a wart on her nose. The trick to seeing both images is to look without focusing. This type of vision relaxes the focus muscles.

The Painter

Hold up your thumb, now look at your thumb then look at something distant. Go back and forth several times.

Finish by quickly rubbing your palms together and placing your hands over your eyes, the warmth and darkness will relax the muscles.

Lubricate:

Did you know that when we are relaxed we blink twenty-two times per minute, but when we are at a computer we only blink seven times per minute? Blinking replenishes the moisture shield across our eyes. This moisture shield protects our eyes from germs and also allows proper light refraction for accurate sight. If your vision is fuzzy, or if your eyes are red or feel gritty, you may have dry eyes.

Artificial tears are perfectly safe to use as often as you need. Choose a good quality tear replacement product; many are available in preservative free formulas.

Increase your intake of EFAs (essential fatty acids), they are essential in keeping the mucous membranes moist.

If eye strain continues to be a problem, ask your ophthalmologist about computer glasses.

I’m more aware now of the improper lighting and the discomfort it has been causing, and my eyes feel better after trying just a few of these exercises. These tips helped me; I hope you find them helpful as well.

Original article at Women On Writing